Ordinary people in Japan were generally not allowed to use surnames in public until 1870, and in 1875 a new law required every family to register one. Many families already had a name in private use; others chose one quickly, often from the landscape around them. That is why so many common surnames combine 田 (rice field), 山 (mountain), 川 (river), 木 (tree) or 村 (village) with a word for where the family lived.
Another group traces back to the powerful Fujiwara clan. The ending -tō, written 藤 (wisteria), in Satō, Itō, Katō and Saitō is usually explained as a branch of the Fujiwara name.
| Rank | Kanji | Name | Meaning | People (est.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 佐藤 | Satō | to help + wisteria | 1.99 m |
| 2 | 鈴木 | Suzuki | bell + tree | 1.90 m |
| 3 | 高橋 | Takahashi | high + bridge | 1.47 m |
| 4 | 田中 | Tanaka | rice field + middle | 1.34 m |
| 5 | 渡辺 | Watanabe | to cross + side | 1.20 m |
| 6 | 伊藤 | Itō | (used for its sound + wisteria | 1.15 m |
| 7 | 中村 | Nakamura | middle + village | 1.08 m |
| 8 | 小林 | Kobayashi | small + grove | 1.06 m |
| 9 | 山本 | Yamamoto | mountain + origin | 1.02 m |
| 10 | 加藤 | Katō | to add + wisteria | 0.92 m |
| 11 | 吉田 | Yoshida | good luck + rice field | 0.85 m |
| 12 | 山田 | Yamada | mountain + rice field | 0.82 m |
| 13 | 佐々木 | Sasaki | to help + tree | 0.71 m |
| 14 | 山口 | Yamaguchi | mountain + mouth | 0.64 m |
| 15 | 松本 | Matsumoto | pine + origin | 0.63 m |
| 16 | 井上 | Inoue | well + above | 0.60 m |
| 17 | 木村 | Kimura | tree + village | 0.58 m |
| 18 | 清水 | Shimizu | pure + water | 0.56 m |
| 19 | 林 | Hayashi | grove | 0.55 m |
| 20 | 斉藤 | Saitō | equal + wisteria | 0.53 m |
| 21 | 斎藤 | Saitō | purification + wisteria | 0.52 m |
| 22 | 山崎 | Yamazaki | mountain + cape | 0.49 m |
| 23 | 中島 | Nakajima | middle + island | 0.48 m |
| 24 | 森 | Mori | forest | 0.47 m |
| 25 | 阿部 | Abe | (used for its sound + section | 0.47 m |
| 26 | 池田 | Ikeda | pond + rice field | 0.45 m |
| 27 | 橋本 | Hashimoto | bridge + origin | 0.45 m |
| 28 | 石川 | Ishikawa | stone + river | 0.44 m |
| 29 | 山下 | Yamashita | mountain + below | 0.41 m |
| 30 | 小川 | Ogawa | small + river | 0.41 m |
| 31 | 石井 | Ishii | stone + well | 0.40 m |
| 32 | 長谷川 | Hasegawa | long + valley + river | 0.39 m |
| 33 | 後藤 | Gotō | behind + wisteria | 0.39 m |
| 34 | 岡田 | Okada | hill + rice field | 0.38 m |
| 35 | 近藤 | Kondō | near + wisteria | 0.37 m |
| 36 | 前田 | Maeda | front + rice field | 0.37 m |
| 37 | 藤田 | Fujita | wisteria + rice field | 0.37 m |
| 38 | 遠藤 | Endō | far + wisteria | 0.36 m |
| 39 | 青木 | Aoki | blue + tree | 0.35 m |
| 40 | 坂本 | Sakamoto | slope + origin | 0.35 m |
| 41 | 村上 | Murakami | village + above | 0.34 m |
| 42 | 太田 | Ōta | big + rice field | 0.32 m |
| 43 | 金子 | Kaneko | gold + child | 0.31 m |
| 44 | 藤井 | Fujii | wisteria + well | 0.31 m |
| 45 | 福田 | Fukuda | good fortune + rice field | 0.30 m |
| 46 | 西村 | Nishimura | west + village | 0.30 m |
| 47 | 三浦 | Miura | three + bay | 0.30 m |
| 48 | 竹内 | Takeuchi | bamboo + inside | 0.29 m |
| 49 | 中川 | Nakagawa | middle + river | 0.29 m |
| 50 | 岡本 | Okamoto | hill + origin | 0.29 m |
| 51 | 松田 | Matsuda | pine + rice field | 0.29 m |
| 52 | 原田 | Harada | field + rice field | 0.29 m |
| 53 | 中野 | Nakano | middle + field | 0.29 m |
| 54 | 小野 | Ono | small + field | 0.28 m |
| 55 | 田村 | Tamura | rice field + village | 0.28 m |
| 56 | 藤原 | Fujiwara | wisteria + field | 0.27 m |
| 57 | 中山 | Nakayama | middle + mountain | 0.27 m |
| 58 | 石田 | Ishida | stone + rice field | 0.27 m |
| 59 | 小島 | Kojima | small + island | 0.26 m |
| 60 | 和田 | Wada | harmony + rice field | 0.26 m |
| 61 | 森田 | Morita | forest + rice field | 0.25 m |
| 62 | 内田 | Uchida | inside + rice field | 0.25 m |
| 63 | 柴田 | Shibata | brushwood + rice field | 0.25 m |
| 64 | 酒井 | Sakai | sake + well | 0.24 m |
| 65 | 原 | Hara | field | 0.24 m |
| 66 | 高木 | Takagi | high + tree | 0.24 m |
| 67 | 横山 | Yokoyama | side + mountain | 0.24 m |
| 68 | 安藤 | Andō | peace + wisteria | 0.24 m |
| 69 | 宮崎 | Miyazaki | shrine + cape | 0.24 m |
| 70 | 上田 | Ueda | above + rice field | 0.24 m |
| 71 | 島田 | Shimada | island + rice field | 0.23 m |
| 72 | 工藤 | Kudō | craft + wisteria | 0.23 m |
| 73 | 大野 | Ōno | big + field | 0.22 m |
| 74 | 宮本 | Miyamoto | shrine + origin | 0.22 m |
| 75 | 杉山 | Sugiyama | cedar + mountain | 0.22 m |
| 76 | 今井 | Imai | now + well | 0.22 m |
| 77 | 丸山 | Maruyama | round + mountain | 0.21 m |
| 78 | 増田 | Masuda | to increase + rice field | 0.21 m |
| 79 | 高田 | Takada | high + rice field | 0.21 m |
| 80 | 村田 | Murata | village + rice field | 0.21 m |
| 81 | 平野 | Hirano | peace + field | 0.21 m |
| 82 | 大塚 | Ōtsuka | big + mound | 0.21 m |
| 83 | 菅原 | Sugawara | sedge + field | 0.21 m |
| 84 | 武田 | Takeda | warrior + rice field | 0.20 m |
| 85 | 新井 | Arai | new + well | 0.20 m |
| 86 | 小山 | Koyama | small + mountain | 0.20 m |
| 87 | 野口 | Noguchi | field + mouth | 0.20 m |
| 88 | 桜井 | Sakurai | cherry blossom + well | 0.20 m |
| 89 | 千葉 | Chiba | thousand + leaf | 0.20 m |
| 90 | 岩崎 | Iwasaki | rock + cape | 0.20 m |
| 91 | 佐野 | Sano | to help + field | 0.20 m |
| 92 | 谷口 | Taniguchi | valley + mouth | 0.20 m |
| 93 | 上野 | Ueno | above + field | 0.20 m |
| 94 | 松井 | Matsui | pine + well | 0.19 m |
| 95 | 河野 | Kōno | river + field | 0.19 m |
| 96 | 市川 | Ichikawa | market + river | 0.19 m |
| 97 | 渡部 | Watanabe | to cross + section | 0.19 m |
| 98 | 野村 | Nomura | field + village | 0.18 m |
| 99 | 菊地 | Kikuchi | chrysanthemum + earth | 0.18 m |
| 100 | 木下 | Kinoshita | tree + below | 0.18 m |
Ranking and estimates: Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance national surname survey, 2008.
Last names by ending
Most surnames end in a word for a place. Pick an ending to see the surnames built on it.
More Japanese last names
Surnames shared by at least ten notable people on Wikidata, A to Z.